Head-to-head comparison
AI-Media vs Gladia
Two of the transcription tools podcasters reach for. Here's how they differ on pricing, features, audience, and the trade-offs that actually matter day-to-day.
Broadcast live captioning and ASR
Best for: TV stations, sports broadcasters, and large events that need live captions on air.
Multilingual Whisper-powered API with sub-300ms streaming.
Best for: Voice product developers
At a glance
The honest trade-offs
AI-Media
Pros
- FCC-compliant broadcast captioning
- Hardware encoders for live TV
- 24/7 monitored caption operations
Watch-outs
- Broadcasters and venues only
- Pricing on application
- Not designed for podcasts
Gladia
Pros
- Sub-300ms real-time latency
- 100+ languages with code-switching
- Free 10 hours/month evaluation
Watch-outs
- API-only, no editor for end users
- Higher async rate than raw Whisper
- Volume tiers need annual commits
Which one should you pick?
Pick AI-Media if
You’re building around tv stations, sports broadcasters, and large events that need live captions on air.. AI-Media owns the LEXI engine and a fleet of hardware encoders that pipe live captions into SDI and IP video feeds. It's the dominant choice for FCC-regulated live broadcast captioning.
Pick Gladia if
You’re building around voice product developers. Gladia took Whisper and re-engineered it to work in production — sub-300ms streaming latency, code-switching across 100+ languages, diarization and translation in the same stream. For developers building voice products it's a serious Whisper-API upgrade.
Also worth comparing
Or see all AI-Media alternatives.
Frequently asked
What does AI-Media do better than Gladia?
AI-Media's standout is "FCC-compliant broadcast captioning". Gladia doesn't make that promise — it leans into "Sub-300ms real-time latency" instead. If the first sentence describes your workflow, pick AI-Media; if the second does, pick Gladia.
What are the trade-offs?
AI-Media: broadcasters and venues only. Gladia: api-only, no editor for end users. Whether either matters depends entirely on what you actually need — neither is a deal-breaker by itself.
Can I use AI-Media and Gladia together?
Both are transcription tools so most teams pick one. Some workflows do combine them — for example, using AI-Media for one show or episode type and Gladia for another. Worth trying both free tiers before committing.